Nation & World

All Nation & World

  • Perilous plight for Syrian refugees in Lebanon

    Syrian refugees struggling in Lebanon are on the edge of catastrophe, according to a new report from the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights.

  • Security in Sochi

    With public attention focused on the potential for unrest around Sochi to disrupt the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia, the Gazette spoke with Timothy Colton, Feldberg Professor of Government and Russian Studies, about the region, security preparations, and the roots of unrest.

  • Facebook, 10 years after

    Professor Jonathan Zittrain, founder and director of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, talks about Facebook’s past, present, and future as it turns 10 years old.

  • The doings at Davos

    Harvard experts convened to discuss the big issues and parties at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

  • Protectors of the Maya

    Harvard’s Bill and Barbara Fash have developed a program that trains local people in Copán, Honduras, to preserve and protect the area’s ancient Maya heritage.

  • Lessons on studying security

    Cass Sunstein, the Robert Walmsley University Professor and a member of an advisory panel created by President Obama to examine national security issues, discussed the group’s recommendations, which included proposed reforms to the way the intelligence community does business.

  • Market reaction

    Once a risky and bold idea, Harvard Business School’s overseas FIELD program now is a foundational and transformative piece of the M.B.A. curriculum for students and faculty.

  • Snow days don’t subtract from learning

    School administrators may want to be even more aggressive in calling for weather-related closures. A new study conducted by Harvard Kennedy School Assistant Professor Joshua Goodman finds that snow days do not impact student learning.

  • Harvard and MIT release working papers on open online learning

    Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology today released a series of working papers based on 17 online courses offered on the edX platform. Run in 2012 and 2013, the courses drew upon diverse topics — from ancient Greek poetry to electromagnetism — and an array of disciplines, including public health, engineering, and law.

  • Bridging troubled waters

    Harvard crisis-management expert Herman “Dutch” Leonard talks about the challenges facing N.J. Gov. Chris Christie and retailer Target after recent damaging news revelations.

  • ‘Hot Stove’ simmering

    A Harvard Business School working paper analysis looks at what matters for Major League Baseball teams trying to cash in on their Japanese star players.

  • So, who owns the Internet?

    Harvard experts say a closely watched case now before the Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., over the Federal Communications Commission’s authority to regulate online access could have game-changing implications for how consumers and businesses experience the Internet.

  • We can work it out

    A new task force report by the American Political Science Association takes a close look at the causes of and cures for political stalemates in Congress.

  • ‘Our spirit is waterproof’

    News of recovery efforts left the headlines in the month after Typhoon Haiyan devastated parts of the Philippines. But Harvard College students continue to raise awareness and funds for relief. So far, they have raised $12,000 and hope to continue as the most devastated parts of the Philippines begin the slow, long process of rebuilding.

  • Hard-pressed

    In a new polemic, Harvard Kennedy School Professor Thomas Patterson calls for sweeping changes to the education of journalists and the practice of journalism.

  • World Cup wisdom

    Urban planning scholar Judith Grant Long spoke with the Gazette about the impact of hosting a mega-event like the World Cup.

  • Mandela’s legacy

    Harvard South Africa specialists discuss the legacy of Nelson Mandela and the future of the country he changed.

  • Universities as peacemakers

    A panel of experts and scholars from a range of fields convened at Harvard Divinity School to explore the role that universities can play in forging interreligious dialogue and peacemaking.

  • Majority of millennials don’t support health care reform

    A new national poll of America’s 18- to 29-year-olds by the Institute of Politics finds a solid majority of millennials disapprove of the comprehensive health reform package that the president signed into law in 2010, regardless of whether the law is referred to as the Affordable Care Act (56 percent disapprove) or “Obamacare” (57 percent disapprove).

  • Are U.S. students falling behind?

    The results of the latest program for international student assessment tests have been released, and there is both good news and bad news to report for U.S. students.

  • German central banker sees walls in need of mending

    In a Harvard talk the head of Germany’s central bank advocated steps to de-link failing governments and banks from the inflation-fighting monetary policy of central banks.

  • New Frontier Awards honor two

    Jack Schlossberg, grandson of President John F. Kennedy, honored the founder of an online charity that supports public schools and a combat veteran who is now a congresswoman during the 2013 John F. Kennedy New Frontier Awards.

  • Companies or coverage

    The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear challenges by some for-profit companies that have a religious objection to a mandate under the Affordable Care Act that employers must provide employees with health insurance that includes contraceptive coverage. In a question-and-answer session, Harvard Law Professor Mark Tushnet examines what’s at stake in the suits.

  • Core objectives

    Harvard Graduate School of Education Professor Paul Reville talks about the new national standards for K-12 education, known as the Common Core State Standards, and the recent controversy surrounding their implementation.

  • The day the president died

    Five from Harvard remember where they were when President John F. Kennedy was killed on Nov. 22, 1963, and what effect the shooting had on their lives.

  • Northern exposure

    Harvard Kennedy School Professor Michael Ignatieff talks about why he put aside academia to make an improbable and ill-fated foray into Canadian politics.

  • Getting the green light

    Harvard Business School hosts its first academic conference on bringing sustainability into the corporate world.

  • Not very good governance

    Panelists at the Harvard Kennedy School consider why Congress isn’t working.

  • Challenges facing relief workers in Philippines

    Herman “Dutch” Leonard, the George F. Baker Jr. Professor of Public Management, talks about relief efforts in the Philippines and the challenges facing those trying to help following a major typhoon on Nov. 8 that has killed more than 2,500 people.

  • Marriage equality at 10

    Ten years after Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, Harvard Law School’s Margaret Marshall, who was chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, looks back on the milestone ruling that launched the gay marriage wave.